Farm to Food Bank Advisory Council Meeting
10:00 a.m.
June 27th, 2025
Springfield Location: Videoconference Room, 823 Monroe St, Springfield, IL 62701
Welcome
Britney Southard brought the meeting to order at 10:06 a.m. Roll call was taken, and a quorum was present.
Roll Call
Members Present in Springfield:
- Britney Southard, Liaison, Illinois Department of Human Services, TEFAP
Members Present Virtually:
- Bindi Lessing, Chair, Illinois Department of Human Services, TEFAP
- Dakarai Howard, Director of Agriculture, Illinois Department of Agriculture
- Kevin Pinson, Director of Product Sourcing, St. Louis Area Food Bank
- Bailey Parks-Moore, Food Bank Representative, Eastern Illinois Food Bank
- Piero Taico, Agriculture Industry Representative, Feeding Illinois
- Raghela Scavuzzo, Agricultural Industry Representative, Illinois Farm Bureau
- Lillian Nabwiire, Academic Institution Representative
Members Absent:
Gretchen Nollman, Food Sourcing Manager, River Bend Food Bank
Minutes
- Approval of minutes with minor grammatical and spelling changes
- Raghela Scavuzzo moved to approve minutes
- Kevin Pinson seconded the motion
- The motion to approve minutes by roll call vote
Meeting Opener
- Bindi Lessing opened the meeting with introductions of the council
- Rules of Procedure and Adoption
- Barbara Hobrock, Director of External Engagement for the Illinois Department of Human Services voices the Rules of Procedure
- Bindi Lessing made the motion to adopt the Rules of Procedure
- Raghela Scavuzzo moved to adopt the Rules of Procedure as presented
- Bailey Parks-Moore seconded the motion
- The motion passed by roll call vote
Appointment of Vice Chairperson
- Bindi Lessing appointed Raghela Scavuzzo
- Steve Ericson accepted
Overview and Purpose
Bindi Lessing stated Illinois farms grow an abundance of nutritious food each year. But sometimes, what's left in the field or cooler doesn't fit the market. The Farm to Food Bank initiative creates a new channel for that food to feed local families. By buying fresh produce, dairy, meat, and eggs directly from Illinois farms, we keep dollars in the local economy and nutritious food in the hands of our neighbors.
Bindi Lessing stated the purpose of the council is to provide support to the program through facilitating relationship-building and partnerships between the Illinois agricultural sector and the emergency food system, approving of a proposed annual budget by the administering entity, reviewing and providing feedback on the administering entity's annual plans and annual reports, promoting the program, and providing feedback or recommendations as needed to the administering entity.
Committee Reports
The council focused on how the program can spread the word to get public attendees to join our meetings. This would enable the council to hear more concerns, requests, or receive advice through sources outside of our committee team.
There are no identified concerns at this time.
Public Participation
No public participants.
What to Expect Next
Bindi Lessing states that the next steps the council will take in the following meeting are: (1) acquire and distribute foods that meet the grant specifications, (2) encourage applicants and advise on capacity-building grants, (3) and assist with an annual plan and summary.
Adjourn
Bindi Lessing provided topic discussion on future meeting days that work for the team with the next meeting date being held on Thursday, July 24th from 9-10am.
